It’s only fitting that the “On a Winter’s Night” reunion tour should get its start in Carmel at the Sunset Center Cultural Center Friday night, a day before the Winter Solstice. The four folk music artists who will perform — Patty Larkin, John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky and Cliff Eberhardt — originally toured in 1994 as one of several touring groups who went out in support of the recording of the same name, although only Larkin and Gorka appeared on the album. Its full title is “Christine Lavin Presents: On a Winter’s Night,” and Lavin was the executive producer and one of the 15 performers who contributed folk and Americana music that shared a seasonal love song theme.

Larkin, Gorka, Kaplansky and Eberhardt are bringing the concept back on the road and following the Carmel date, they will make another Bay Area appearance Saturday at Berkeley’s Freight and Salvage before taking it to the East Coast after the start of the new year through the latter part of March. These veteran singer/songwriters are among the brightest stars of the folk movement for the past three decades, and it feels like quite some time has passed since they were last in our area.

Ranging in age from 64-70 years old, the artists were in their prime when they were coming to the Monterey Peninsula, usually under the auspices of promoters Barbara Murphy and Morgan Christopher back in the mid to late ’90s. Because of their love and support of this type of music, we were given the gift of hearing a who’s who of the top names in the genre, which was experiencing a renaissance of sorts. Folk music has a way of resurrecting itself over and over, coming in waves according to the times. And it seems, the times they are a changin’ to where the artist’s voice will be a welcome diversion, or motivation, to audiences weary of the way things have changed, progressed, regressed, gone awry, you know, those kinds of things.

Out of these four, Larkin was my favorite back then because of her stretching of the standard song form that folk artists would usually employ. She is not only a good singer/songwriter, her guitar style is informed by jazz and she is an accomplished player who gave an urban shine to her sound and she never shied away from experimenting and creating progressive music. She was to me a kind of Joni Mitchell who isn’t afraid to change and grow.

With 11 studio albums and two live recordings under her belt, Larkin mines the intersections of poetry and song with her innovative 14th release, “Bird in a Cage,” released on her own Road Narrows Records in 2020. “Bird in a Cage” puts poems from 10 notable poets to song, including U.S. Poet Laureates William Carlos Williams, Stanley Kunitz, Kay Ryan, Robert Pinsky and Billy Collins, for a new and haunting collection that pulses with the magic of lyricism. Poems are made to be shared aloud, and with Bird, she takes up that tradition and sets it aglow: her extraordinary musical shadings make each poem a star. The album grew out of her songwriting practice.

“Over the years I began my writing days by reading my favorite poets just to be amazed and inspired,” she said. “I looked to poetry as I look at nature, with awe. This morning ritual evolved into a desire to make music of some of my favorite poems. The rhythm and cadence of the lines felt new and fresh to me, the melody slowly revealing itself. And uncovering a melody that is slowly revealed by the words was pure joy.”

Its 10 tracks are full of cross-disciplinary energy, the hot spark of one artist collaborating with another. The album’s liner notes say it best with this reflection from Larkin on Bird’s genesis, “This project is my way of holding brilliance in my hand.”

Gorka has been called the quintessential singer/songwriter of the ’90s folk scene and hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as “the leading singer/songwriter of the New Folk movement.” Originally from New Jersey, he stuck around the East Coast folk scene cutting his teeth at Pennsylvania folk clubs before moving to Texas where he won the prestigious New Folk award at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 1984. Serving as a launching pad for his recording career, his gentle baritone vocals and deceptively simple song forms were first displayed in his landmark debut titled “I Know.” He’s gone on to record 14-16 albums, depending on what source you check, his most recent released in 2018 “True in Time” on Red House Records. When he’s not on the road he lives in Minnesota with his wife and children.

I’ve also had a certain fondness for Kaplansky, who appeared in Monterey numerous times in the past. Her personality shined and her voice soared. The Chicago native found her voice in New York City where she had migrated to be in the company of other aspiring singer/songwriters. Her flair for harmony soon spawned her role as a favorite singing partner, most often with Shawn Colvin. Just as her career seemed poised to take off, she changed directions and returned to college where she fast tracked a doctorate in Clinical Psychology.

She went to work at a NYC hospital and opened a private practice, but she continued to sing and was drawn into recording projects by her friends who stuck to their musical dreams. She harmonized on Colvin’s Grammy-winning “Steady On,” and on Nanci Griffith’s “Lone Star State of Mind” and “Little Love Affairs.” She also landed soundtrack credits, singing with Suzanne Vega on “Pretty in Pink” and with Griffith on “The Firm,” and several commercial credits as well— including “The Heartbeat of America” for Chevrolet.

Then Colvin, who was itching to produce a record, hooked up with Lucy, her ex-singing partner. They went into the studio, and when Lucy’s solo tapes got into the hands of Bob Feldman, president of Red House Records, he was blown away. Suddenly, Lucy was back in the music business. She signed with Red House Records and started playing gigs. Red House released “The Tide” in 1994 to rave reviews, and within six months Lucy signed with a major booking agency, Fleming Artists, and began touring so much it required leaving her two psychologist positions behind.

She’s an interesting case study I’d say. But those who continued to follow her career have been mesmerized by her blend of country, folk, and pop styles with the unique ability to make every song sound fresh, whether singing her own sweet originals; covering country classics by June Carter Cash and Gram Parsons; or singing pop favorites by Lennon/McCartney and Nick Lowe. She really is a delightful performer. Her most recent recording is “The Lucy Story, unreleased and rare tracks, 1976-2023,” expected to be released on Christmas Day.

Eberhardt makes a great bookend to this group of performers, mirroring the deft guitar work and forceful songwriting that defines Larkin. His path as a singer/songwriter was never in question, having grown up in New York in a musical family and touring in an acoustic duo with his brother starting at age 15. Like many of the folk artists in the late 1970s, he moved to New York City where he played the hip folk clubs and performed alongside his contemporaries, which included all of the above.

Things really began to take off in 1990 when he signed to the Windham Hill label, his first album, “The Long Road,” contained the title song duet with Richie Havens that drew a lot of attention. A terrible car accident put him on the sidelines for several years as he went through a couple of back surgeries and a long physical therapy regimen, but he emerged with the strength to continue his career, morphing into writing music for theater productions which garnered him nominations and a win from the Helen Hayes Awards. He is well-known as a songwriting teacher all over the U.S. at songwriting camps and private lessons. He also produces, arranges and advises on other artist’s recordings. He tours constantly. His latest originals release is “Knew Things.” Produced during the pandemic shutdown, containing cuts from “The Heal,” a play he wrote songs for and performed back in 2019, and there are new songs as well. He played all the instruments and engineered it.

Friday’s concert begins at 7:30 p.m. The artists will perform in the round. Also, you can experience the transformative power of sound healing with Wendy Moro and Wendy Edelstein in a special pre-show concert in the Sunset Center Theater. Let these sacred instruments and vocals wash over you, leveraging the power of sound vibrations and frequencies to calm the nervous system and promote well-being. Included with the ticket price, the sound bath takes place from 6:45-7:15 p.m. Tickets range from $40-$70, available in advance online at www.sunsetcenter.org. Or at the Box Office pre-show, or by calling (831) 620-2048 during office hours Monday through Friday, noon-4 p.m.

I want to wish you all a very happy holiday season this week with much gratitude for your continued interest in live entertainment coverage here in “Where It’s At.” Cheers!